Tk::ToolBar(3)

💖 NAME 💖

Tk::ToolBar - A toolbar widget for Perl/Tk

Okay bestie, this is the Tk::ToolBar(3) page from User Contributed Perl Documentation. It's giving “make your Perl/Tk app feel like a real browser or editor” energy. ✨

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

               use Tk;
               use Tk::ToolBar;

               my $mw = MainWindow->new;
               my $tb = $mw->ToolBar(qw/-movable 1 -side top
                                        -indicatorcolor blue/);

               $tb->ToolButton  (-text  => 'Button',
                                 -tip   => 'tool tip',
                                 -command => sub { print "hi\n" });
               $tb->ToolLabel   (-text  => 'A Label');
               $tb->Label       (-text  => 'Another Label');
               $tb->ToolLabEntry(-label => 'A LabEntry',
                                 -labelPack => [-side => "left",
                                                -anchor => "w"]);

               my $tb2 = $mw->ToolBar;
               $tb2->ToolButton(-image   => 'navback22',
                                -tip     => 'back',
                                -command => \&back);
               $tb2->ToolButton(-image   => 'navforward22',
                                -tip     => 'forward',
                                -command => \&forward);
               $tb2->separator;
               $tb2->ToolButton(-image   => 'navhome22',
                                -tip     => 'home',
                                -command => \&home);
               $tb2->ToolButton(-image   => 'actreload22',
                                -tip     => 'reload',
                                -command => \&reload);

               MainLoop;

---

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Okay so, this module implements a dockable toolbar. It is in the same spirit as the “short-cut” toolbars found in most major applications, such as most web browsers and text editors (where you find the “back” or “save” and other shortcut buttons). 💅

Buttons of any type (regular, menu, check, radio) can be created inside this widget. You can also create Label, Entry and LabEntry widgets. Moreover, the ToolBar itself can be made dockable, such that it can be dragged to any edge of your window. Dragging is done in “real-time” so that you can see the contents of your ToolBar as you are dragging it. Furthermore, if you are close to a stickable edge, a visual indicator will show up along that edge to guide you. ToolBars can be made “floatable” such that if they are dragged beyond their associated window, they will detach and float on the desktop. Also, multiple ToolBars are embeddable inside each other. ✨

If you drag a ToolBar to within 15 pixels of an edge, it will stick to that edge. If the ToolBar is further than 15 pixels away from an edge and still inside the window, but you release it over another ToolBar widget, then it will be embedded inside the second ToolBar. You can “un-embed” an embedded ToolBar simply by dragging it out. You can change the 15 pixel limit using the -close option.

Various icons are built into the Tk::ToolBar widget. Those icons can be used as images for ToolButtons (see “SYNOPSIS”). A demo program is bundled with the module that should be available under the 'User Contributed Demonstrations' when you run the widget program. Run it to see a list of the available images. 👑

Tk::ToolBar attempts to use Tk::CursorControl if it’s already installed on the system. You can further control this using the -cursorcontrol option. See “PREREQUISITES”.

The ToolBar is supposed to be created as a child of a Toplevel (MainWindow is a Toplevel widget) or a Frame. You are free to experiment otherwise, but expect the unexpected :-)

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🎀 WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS 🎀

The ToolBar widget takes the following arguments:

• -side — This option tells the ToolBar what edge to initially stick to. Can be one of 'top', 'bottom', 'left' or 'right'. Defaults to 'top'. This option can be set only during object creation. Default is 'top'.
• -movable — This option specifies whether the ToolBar is dockable or not. A dockable ToolBar can be dragged around with the mouse to any edge of the window, subject to the sticky constraints defined by -sticky. Default is 1.
• -close — This option specifies, in pixels, how close we have to drag the ToolBar an edge for the ToolBar to stick to it. Default is 15.
• -sticky — This option specifies which sides the toolbar is allowed to stick to. The value must be a string of the following characters 'nsew'. A string of 'ns' means that the ToolBar can only stick to the north (top) or south (bottom) sides. Defaults to 'nsew'. This option can be set only during object creation.
• -in — This option allows the toolbar to be embedded within another already instantiated Tk::ToolBar object. The value must be a Tk::ToolBar object. This option can be set only during object creation.
• -float — This option specifies whether the toolbar should “float” on the desktop if dragged outside of the window. It defaults to 1. Note that this value is ignored if -cursorcontrol is set to 1.
• -cursorcontrol — This option specifies whether to use Tk::CursorControl to confine the cursor during dragging. The value must be either 1 or 0. The default is 1 which checks for Tk::CursorControl and uses it if present.
• -mystyle — This option indicates that you want to control how the ToolBar looks like and not rely on Tk::ToolBar’s own judgement. The value must be either 1 or 0. For now, the only thing this controls is the relief of ToolButtons and the borderwidth. Defaults to 0.
• -indicatorcolor — This option controls the color of the visual indicator that tells you whether you are close enough to an edge when dragging the ToolBar. Defaults to some shade of blue and green (I like it :P).
• -indicatorrelief — This option controls the relief of the visual indicator that tells you whether you are close enough to an edge when dragging the ToolBar. Defaults to flat.

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👑 WIDGET METHODS 👑

The following methods are used to create widgets that are placed inside the ToolBar. Widgets are ordered in the same order they are created, left to right.

For all widgets, except Labels, a tooltip can be specified via the -tip option. An image can be specified using the -image option for Button- and Label-based widgets.

🦋 $ToolBar->ToolButton / $ToolBar->Button

$ToolBar->ToolButton(?-type => buttonType,? options)
$ToolBar->Button(?-type => buttonType,? options)

This method creates a new Button inside the ToolBar. The -type option can be used to specify what kind of button to create. Can be one of 'Button', 'Checkbutton', 'Menubutton', or 'Radiobutton'. A tooltip message can be specified via the -tip option. An accelerator binding can be specified using the -accelerator option. The value of this option is any legal binding sequence as defined in bind. For example, "-accelerator => '<f>'" will invoke the button when the 'f' key is pressed. Any other options will be passed directly to the constructor of the button. The Button object is returned.

🎀 $ToolBar->ToolLabel / $ToolBar->Label

$ToolBar->ToolLabel(options)
$ToolBar->Label(options)

This method creates a new Label inside the ToolBar. Any options will be passed directly to the constructor of the label. The Label object is returned.

🌈 $ToolBar->ToolEntry / $ToolBar->Entry

$ToolBar->ToolEntry(options)
$ToolBar->Entry(options)

This method creates a new Entry inside the ToolBar. A tooltip message can be specified via the -tip option. Any other options will be passed directly to the constructor of the entry. The Entry object is returned.

✨ $ToolBar->ToolLabEntry / $ToolBar->LabEntry

$ToolBar->ToolLabEntry(options)
$ToolBar->LabEntry(options)

This method creates a new LabEntry inside the ToolBar. A tooltip message can be specified via the -tip option. Any other options will be passed directly to the constructor of the labentry. The LabEntry object is returned. In horizontal ToolBars, the label of the LabEntry widget will be packed to the left of the entry. On vertical ToolBars, the label will be packed on top of the entry.

💜 $ToolBar->ToolOptionmenu / $ToolBar->Optionmenu

$ToolBar->ToolOptionmenu(options)
$ToolBar->Optionmenu(options)

This method creates a new Optionmenu inside the ToolBar. A tooltip message can be specified via the -tip option. Any other options will be passed directly to the constructor of the Optionmenu. The Optionmenu object is returned.

🦋 $ToolBar->ToolBrowseEntry / $ToolBar->BrowseEntry

$ToolBar->ToolBrowseEntry(options)
$ToolBar->BrowseEntry(options)

This method creates a new Tk::BrowseEntry inside the ToolBar. A tooltip message can be specified via the -tip option. Any other options will be passed directly to the constructor of the BrowseEntry. The BrowseEntry object is returned.

🎀 $ToolBar->separator(?-movable => 0/1, -space => num?)

$ToolBar->separator(?-movable => 0/1, -space => num?)

This method inserts a separator. Separators are movable by default. To change that, set the -movable option to 0. If you want to add some space to the left of a separator (or at the top if your ToolBar is vertical), then you can specify the amount of space (in pixels) via the -space option. This can be used to “right-justify” some buttons.

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🌈 IMAGES 🌈

Tk::ToolBar now comes with a set of useful images that can be used in your Tk programs. To view those images, run the widget program that is bundled with Tk, scroll down to the 'User Contributed Demonstrations', and click on the Tk::ToolBar entry.

Note that the images are created using the text method. Also, Tk::ToolBar, upon its creation, pre-loads all of the bundled images into memory. This means that those images are available for use in other widgets in your Tk program. This also means that unless those images are explicitly destroyed, they will use up a small amount of memory even if you are not using them explicitly.

As far as I know, all the bundled images are in the free domain. If that is not the case, then please let me know.

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💀 BUGS 💀

Not really a bug, but a feature ;-) The ToolBar widget assumes that you use pack in its parent. Actually, it will pack() itself inside its parent. If you are using another geometry manager, then you MIGHT get some weird behaviour. I have tested it very quickly, and found no surprises, but let me know if you do.

Another thing I noticed is that on slower window managers dragging a ToolBar might not go very smoothly, and you can “drop” the ToolBar midway through dragging it. I noticed this on Solaris 7 and 8, running any of OpenLook, CDE or GNOME2 window managers. I would appreciate any reports on different platforms.

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🚀 TODO 🚀

I have implemented everything I wanted, and then some. Here are things that were requested, but are not implemented yet. If you want more, send me requests.

• Allow buttons to be “tied” to menu items. Somewhat taken care of with the -accelerator method for buttons.
• Implement Drag-n-Drop to be able to move Tool* widgets interactively. Do we really want this?

🎀 PREREQUISITES 🎀

okay bestie, good news first: Tk::ToolBar only uses core pTk modules. that's it. that's the whole list. so you literally don't need any special prerequisites, no cap. it just works. 💅

but — and this is the cute optional lil sprinkle — if you happen to have Tk::CursorControl installed on your system, then Tk::ToolBar will use it to confine the cursor to your window when dragging ToolBars. (unless you tell it not to, obviously. consent matters. 🫶)

also note that Tk::CursorControl is defined as a prerequisite in Makefile.PL. so during installation you might get a lil warning saying:

"Warning: prerequisite Tk::CursorControl failed to load ..."

if you don't have it installed. and like — you can totally ignore that warning if you don't wanna install Tk::CursorControl. Tk::ToolBar will continue to work properly. it's giving dramatic for no reason. 🙈

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✨ INSTALLATION ✨

either the usual:

perl Makefile.PL
make
make install

or just stick it somewhere in @INC where perl can find it. it's in pure Perl, so it's not picky. she's low maintenance, she's adaptable, she's iconic. 👑

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🌸 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 🌸

the following people have given me helpful comments and bug reports to keep me busy — shoutout to the whole squad: Chris Whiting, Jack Dunnigan, Robert Brooks, Peter Lipecka, Martin Thurn and Shahriar Mokhtarzad. y'all are the moment. 💖

also thanks to the various artists of the KDE team for creating those great icons (the visuals?? ate, fr fr), and to Adrian Davis for packaging them in a Tk-friendly format. 🎀

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🦋 AUTHOR 🦋

Ala Qumsieh aqumsieh@cpan.org

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⭐ LICENSE ⭐

this module is distributed under the same terms as Perl itself. so like, the same vibe as perl. periodt. 💜

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and that's the whole page bestie!! this was perl v5.42.0, dated 2025-07-25, and it's Tk::ToolBar(3) — tysm for reading, go build something cute with it, you're the main character, mwah 🫶💖✨